Letters

Note: This page will be updated on site on a weekly basis. We encourage all
authors to log on regularly for feedback and discussion. We reserve the right
to edit or reject letters based on their content, but all submissions will be
automatically archived as long as they are entered at:
www.emergentmind.org/contacts/contactinfo_post.htm
The most current submissions are listed first.

15. New Physics/New Paradigms course: June 11-18, 2002 Tuscany
From: David Peat
Received: April 21, 2002

It occurs to me that some of the people who visit your web site, or

discussion forum may be interested in a course I'll be giving June 11-18

in the medieval village of Pari, Tuscany.

The course is called "New Physics/New Paradigms". It is about

different world-views. In particular an exploration of David Bohm's

philosophy and approach to physics.(I was an associate of Bohm until his

death and write his biography "Infinite Potential")It will include a

general discussion of world-views, paradigms, perception and the limits

of language. My experience in running Native American Elders/Western

scientists circles in the US will be reflected in a discussion of the

Blackfoot view of the world - with suprizing similarities to Bohm's

notion of the "holomovement" and "rheomode". I will also be discussing

synchronicity and the relationship between Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung.

Information can be obtained at

www.paricenter.com/programs/courses/newscience.php

or by writing to info@paricenter.com.

David Peat

14. TEN NEW $150,000 GRANTS for Subtle Energy/Spiritual Transformation Research
From: Jerry Wesch
Received: April 21, 2002

Dear Colleagues:

This came from a very good friend, Jerry Wesch, the incoming President of
The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energy and Energy Medicine",
ISSSEEM, out of Colorado. I thought there might be someone in our
organization who would want to know about it and perhaps submit research.
Good Luck. Crystal Hawk.

>Subject: TEN NEW $150,000 GRANTS For Spiritual Transformation Research
>
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>I would like to announce to the Metanexus subscriber list the newly formed
>Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research Program. This program will fund
>ten $150,000 grants for investigators who are interested in conducting
>research on the nature of spiritual transformation. We encourage you to
>visit the Web site for complete details on the program and to register there
>
><<>http://www.spiritualtransformationresearch.org>
>
>so that you will receive program updates and the latest in research funding
>opportunities. Below this letter is the Request for Proposals which offers
>an overview of the research program.
>
>The Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research Program is being overseen
>by myself and an advisory board and consultants whose members include Edward
>Foulks (Tulane University), Philip Hefner (Zygon Center for Religion and
>Science), David Hufford (Penn State College of Medicine), Byron Johnson
>(University of Pennsylvania), Joan Koss-Chioino (Arizona State University),
>Kenneth Pargament (Bowling Green State University), Lawrence Sullivan
>(Harvard University), and Robert Wuthnow (Princeton University).
>
>If you are interested in submitting a letter of intent to the program,
>please follow the guidelines for online submission on or before June 1, 2002
>that are elaborated on the Web site. The program will also sponsor a
>research conference in October 2002 for 40 invited participants based upon
>the letters of intent that we receive. I hope you will join with us in this
>exciting endeavor and help to develop a network of interested and active
>investigators in this new field of inquiry.
>
>I am also hoping that you might be able to recommend other researchers who
>may be interested in participating in this program. Please feel free to
>forward this email on to interested colleagues. If you have any questions
>after you have had a chance to explore the Web site and the request for
>proposals, or additional questions about forwarding this email to interested
>colleagues, please don't hesitate to contact me at
><<mailto:katz@metanexus.net>mailto:katz@metanexus.net>.
>
>Yours Sincerely,
>
>Solomon H. Katz
>Principal Investigator
>Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research Program
>
>President
>Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science
>
>
>
>OVERVIEW: SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAM:
>
>Advancing New Interdisciplinary Studies in the Human Sciences
>
>Call for Proposals for $150,000 Research Grants
>
>Letter of Intent due no later than June 1, 2002
>
>Research Colloquium, October 5 - 7, 2002
>
>
>Throughout history and in our own time, humans have had profound experiences
>with a spiritual dimension of reality. In all traditions, individuals
>testify that their lives are no longer the same in the aftermath of these
>experiences, that they have been transformed. Independent observers often
>attest to these changes as well. Can the study of the nature of such changes
>offer another possibility for developing new insights into, improved
>understanding of, and greater appreciation for spiritually transforming
>experiences?
>
>The 100th anniversary of William James' classic work, The Varieties of
>Religious Experience, provides an historic waypoint for us to reconsider the
>scientific study of religious and spiritual phenomena. Anthropology,
>sociology, psychology, psychiatry, pharmacology, neurology, biology,
>neuroscience, religious studies, and cognate fields overlap in an
>interdisciplinary study of diverse and sometimes ambivalent religious
>phenomena. William James reminds us that "the varieties of religious
>experiences" should be "judged by their fruits, not by their roots." What
>are the "fruits of the spirit" as witnessed in numerous and remarkable
>accounts of spiritual transformation? How might we better understand these
>perennial and peculiar transformations in human thought and behavior?
>
>
>While the human and social sciences have made great progress in the last
>century, religious and spiritual phenomena have infrequently been the focus
>of such scientific and systematic analyses. We have many new tools and
>methods to describe, detect, measure, and understand complex human
>phenomena, but we have not made much progress in research into religious
>phenomena since William James's famous Gifford lectures. This lack of
>scientific study is due, in part, to the long-term historical divide between
>scientific investigation and matters of religion. We seek to create a new
>field of inquiry, freed from the prejudices of the past, able to examine
>diverse religious and spiritual phenomena with scientific rigor. One such
>phenomenon is that of "spiritual transformation".
>
>
>In order to provide a working definition of "spiritual transformation" for
>purposes of launching this inquiry, we initially define it as dramatic
>changes in world and self views, purposes, religious beliefs, attitudes, and
>behavior. These changes are often linked to discrete experiences that can
>occur gradually or over relatively short periods of time. This change
>usually occurs within three contexts: (i) As an intensified devotion within
>the same religious structure; (ii) A shift from no spiritual commitment to a
>devout spiritual life; or (iii) A change from one faith tradition to
>another. These changes are sometimes precipitated by stress and anguish,
>induced through rigorous practices, and can also occur spontaneously without
>apparent corollaries.
>
>
>A number of studies and theoretical perspectives are suggestive of the kind
>of research areas involved in the phenomena of spiritual transformation.
>Insights can be derived from the cognitive sciences (McCallister, 1995),
>coping theory (Pargament, 1997), flow theory (Czikszentminhalyi, 1991),
>neuropsychology (Lex, 1978), attachment theory (Kirkpatrick 1997), and
>relationship dynamics (Rambo, 1993; Ullman, 1989). Practices that may be
>important include pilgrimage, meditation, prayer, confession, conversion,
>healing, readings of sacred texts, "telling one's story", and acts of
>service to others. These perspectives and practices raise many questions
>concerning the various pathways, contexts, outcomes, and techniques involved
>in spiritual transformation. Hence, a goal of this research program is to
>develop new, better integrated studies that address these emerging
>questions.
>
>
>The Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science is pleased to announce a
>$2.5 million research program on the nature of spiritual transformation. The
>Spiritual Transformation Research Program will include: (i) Submission of
>letters of intent from prospective principal investigators by June 1st,
>2002; (ii) An invitation-only research conference October 5-7, 2002 designed
>for forty prospective principal investigators to address issues pertaining
>to literature review, methodology, research design, peer review processes,
>and the establishment of a network of active investigators; (iii) Submission
>of completed proposals by January 6th, 2003 and selection of ten projects to
>be funded by March 1st, 2003 , with each project to receive approximately
>$150,000 over a two-year period to conduct research on the nature of
>spiritual transformation; (iv) A public conference in October 2005 to
>feature some of the research results; (v) Ongoing networking and
>collaboration to develop and sustain on-going scientific studies of diverse
>spiritual and religious phenomena.
>
>
>Although there is wide acknowledgement that spiritual transformations occur
>and that they can have profound effects on the life of a person, group or
>society, there have been few integrated scientific studies conducted that
>account for the nature of the various biological, psychosocial, and cultural
>conditions and factors that underlie spiritual transformations. The
>Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research Program seeks to fill this
>important gap in our knowledge by rigorously investigating various aspects
>of the sociocultural, psychological and neurological factors that underlie
>spiritual transformations of individuals and groups. The research conference
>and the ten funded projects will help to advance an interdisciplinary field
>in the human sciences for researching spiritual and religious phenomena
>using cutting edge methodologies and experimental designs.
>
>
>We are looking for the enthusiastic involvement of scientists and scholars
>from around the world who want to advance the cause of interdisciplinary
>research on the nature of spiritual transformation. Applicants from
>anthropology, sociology, psychology, psychiatry, pharmacology, neurology,
>biology, neuroscience, and religious studies are encouraged to apply. We
>also recommend, where possible, that researchers and religionists seek to
>collaborate on research under this announcement. We want to attract
>distinguished and emerging researchers who are experimenting with creative
>new methodologies and techniques for examining human expression and
>experience. Studies of diverse religious traditions and practices under the
>rubric of "spiritual transformation" are welcome.
>
>
>The Principal Investigator of the Spiritual Transformation Research Program
>is Solomon H Katz, president of the Metanexus Institute on Religion and
>Science and director of the Krogman Center for Research in Child Growth and
>Development at the University of Pennsylvania. Collaborators in the study
>include David Hufford, director of the Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic
>Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine, and Byron Johnson, director and
>distinguished senior fellow at the Center for Research on Religion and Urban
>Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania. Advisory board members and
>consultants include:
>
>Edward F. Foulks, Tulane University
>Philip Hefner, Zygon Center for Religion and Science
>Joan D. Koss-Chioino, Arizona State University
>Kenneth Pargament, Bowling Green State University
>Lawrence E. Sullivan, Harvard University
>Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University
>
>
>You can learn more about the Spiritual Transformation Research Program by
>Visiting
><<http://www.spiritualtransformationresearch.org/>http://www.spiritualtransformationresearch.org>.
>In order to
>apply for this grant, you must submit a letter of intent no later than June
>1, 2002. Forty prospective principal investigators will then be selected to
>attend a private research conference October 5-7, 2002 in Philadelphia.
>Full grant applications will then be invited for a total of $1.6 million in
>research funds. For guidelines and more information, visit or contact
>Christopher Stawski, Program Associate at
><<mailto:stawski@metanexus.net>mailto:stawski@metanexus.net>.
>
>The Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science
><<>http://www.metanexus.net>
>is dedicated to research, education, and outreach on the constructive
>engagement of science and religion. The Spiritual Transformation Research
>Program is made possible by special funding from the John Templeton
>Foundation <<>http://www.templeton.org/> and the
>support of individual and
>institutional donors
>
>
>
>Jerry E. Wesch, Ph.D.
>Chicago
><mailto:jewesch@enteract.com>jewesch@enteract.com
>

Crystal Hawk
Toronto, Canada
crystal.hawk@sympatico.ca
www.therapeutictouch.com
This is another good site to visit daily:
www.thehungersite.com

13. "A river of hope": April 6th, 2002

Dear World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day Supporters,

The BIG day is almost upon us.  People worldwide have worked very hard, media
worldwide has been writing stories on T'ai Chi & Qigong, and T'ai Chi &
Qigong practitioners worldwide have been connecting via
www.worldtaichiday.org and other links.  We have now exceeded 500 EVENTS
WORLDWIDE !!!!!  (And new ones come in daily.)

A message for organizers, etc. below BUT FIRST, a message to NEW PEOPLE, as
we've had a ton of recent sign ups.

For NEW INDIVIDUALS:
go to www.worldtaichiday.org and click "Search Events", then select "country"
(and state if U.S.), and then scroll through to find an event near you so you
can participate in WTCQD 2002 this coming Saturday.

For NEW SCHOOLS/EVENTS:
if you haven't listed your event (follow the above instructions if you are
not sure) go to www.worldtaichiday.org and click "List Your Event" and fill
out the pop up form giving yourself an "easy to remember" password at the end
of the form.


NOW THE MESSAGE TO ALL:

You, we, have done a spectacular job creating an enormous, and unprecedented
global health and healing event, surpassing 500 events worldwide.  Millions
will learn about the health and healing benefits of Tai Chi & Qigong because
of your efforts, and your classes will grow year by year by year, and your
community will become healthier.

However, there is more that our events will mean.  The world has been
severely traumatized in many ways this last year.  Stressed out traumatized
people see narrow visions of possibility.  World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day will
give media worldwide an opportunity to turn their lenses to a vision of hope
and healing.

A Tai Chi teacher sent me a true story about World War I, when during a
Christmas ceasefire the German and British troops came out of the trenches
and played football (that's soccer, for Americans :-)  with one another.
This was reported worldwide, and some historians believe, so powerfully
affected the world's psyche that it actually hastened the end of the war.

Your efforts that come together as people of all cultures, all nations, and
all faiths, weaving a tapestry of hope and healing through our playing Tai
Chi together each year, year after year, affect the global psyche.  It is
hard to realize the power of that right now for many, but it has in the past
as in WWI, and it is right now, and will on April 6th.  As Robert Kennedy
said, "we each create rivulets of hope that spread out to merge with one
another until a raging river of hope overspills the banks of our world."

Thank you all so much for making world history with us, and truly doing what
you can to change the world in a healing way.

Bill Douglas, Founder of World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day

12. World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day - Government Proclamations

Dear World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day Supporters,


WTCQD's healing message has caught fire with the world's imagination!

Proclamations from the Governors of NEW YORK, and PENNSYLVANIA! ALSO,
Puerto Rico expects ONE THOUSAND at their event this year. (Great work
Puerto Rico!).  Lastly, we've worked with the National Qigong Association
(NQA.org) and they are forming a major press conference on the medical
benefits of T'ai Chi & Qigong to be held in Manhattan, NYC on WTCQD!

We are getting new events listed on a daily basis.  Major publications like
"Body & Soul" (formerly New Age Journal), Awareness Magazine, Qi Journal, The
Empty Vessel, Australia's "Conscious Living" and "Health and Healing
Journals," and many others (email us those we left out.)

FYI:  World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day has now received official proclamations
from the Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, California, Connecticut,
Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina, & the U.N. World Health
Organization.

ORGANIZERS:
- You still have time to get official proclamations from your mayor,
governor, prime minister, etc.
- Simply call their office and ask who is in charge of Official
Proclamations, and they'll tell you what to do.  It's very easy usually.
- We can email you or fax you other's proclamations to use as a model, and to
show to your officials.

- For press releases, now is the time to get those out.
- at www.worldtaichiday.org the "Resource Library" has medical research on
T'ai Chi you can pass on to the media, or include in WTCQD articles or
letters to the editor you may write.

Thank you all for providing a powerful healing example to the world.  God
bless,

Bill Douglas, World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day

However, to publish it, was possible only in 1991 (Gariaev P.P., Chudin V.I., Komissarov G.G., Berezin A.A., Vasiliev A.A., 1991, Holographic Associative Memory of Biological Systems, Proceedings SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. Optical Memory and Neural Networks. v.1621, p.280- 291. USA.), and then in (Gariaev P.P., "Wave based genome", Ed. Obsh. Pl'za, 279p. In Russian (1994)), where the biggest chapter of the book is devoted to this effect.

But this paper is ONLY about the DNA fluctuation dynamics, investigated by a method with laser correlation spectroscopy, and there is no relation to the DNA phantom effect.

We are in the process of registering with the Library of Congress as well as a number of scientific e-journal libraries. Once we have obtained our ISSN number we will provide regular updates of these Internet listings and resources.

Please note that one of the papers recommended by Larry Dossey ( Rauscher EA, Targ R. The speed of thought: Investigation of a complex space-time metric to describe psychic phenomena. Journal of
Scientific Exploration. 2001;15(3):331-354) is available on the International Remote Viewing Association web site, at http://www.espresearch.com/miracles/webfiles/doc-SpeedOfThought.pdf

M. Sue Benford's article Probable Axion Detection via Consistent Radiographic Findings after Exposure to a Shpilman Axion Generator was published in the online Journal of Theoretics (Feb/March 2002)

Dear Supporters of World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day,
[Below are important pointers for WTCQD organizers, in the UK, and worldwide.]

Once again, thank you for MAKING WORLD HISTORY with us!! WTCQD is exploding onto the world scene, which will help all of you create more successful events locally. Sydney Australia has out done itself !!! :-)))

National Magazines are already making announcements, such as Body n Soul (formerly New Age Journal), Awareness Magazine, Conscious Living (Australia), Health & Healing Journal (New Zealand), and as you know Governors of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, and South Carolina have officially proclaimed WTCQD or sent a note of support. If you have local/regional/national health and healing journals, etc., the time is now to ask them to make announcements in their calendar section [if you need advice on how to do this, contact us by replying to this email.] BUT, "BIG" news just came in, the Australian event will be held near beautiful Sydney Harbor, next to the Opera House where they expect 1,000 to 1,500 PARTICIPANTS THIS YEAR !!! :-) This has mass media potential that may help all our other events worldwide get picked up locally, regionally, and nationally.

Remember the goal is to "get out the flood of medical research" on T'ai Chi and Qigong's benefits. Try not to let the media just turn our coverage into a "Sunday magazine social story," but rather an important world commentary on how alternative health practices like T'ai Chi and Qigong have the potential to save the world hundreds of billions of saved health care dollars, and that there are millions of people who can benefit from it if they only knew about what it can do for them. BIG waves are shifting worldwide as UK's National Health System is recognizing alternative therapies, announced only in December 2001. [UK organizers, see below]. You can find research on T'ai Chi's benefits, and associated medical studies, sited by publication at www.worldtaichiday.org (click on Resource Library" at the bottom of the home page).

SUGGESTIONS/REQUESTS TO MAKE WTCQD 2002 THE BEST IT CAN BE: - EVERYONE try to get your mayor, governor, parlimentarian, president, PM, to officially proclaim WTCQD for your area. (We can fax you some samples of one's done by other officials upon request.) We especially encourage those outside the US to do so, we are heavy with US declarations and too light with int'l ones. -

ATTENTION "U.K." ORGANIZERS -- realize that only in December the UK Independent Newspaper did a half page report announcing that the National Health System (NHS) is officially promoting alternative health practices. The article did not specifically mention Tai Chi -- so you have your work cut out for you. You see the wave is building, and World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day is your "surf board," if you choose to stand up and ride it. WTCQD's timing so soon after the NHS announcement can give you an extraordinary opportunity to inform millions in the UK of T'ai Chi & Qigong's benefits, and also to catch the attention of the NHS. The NHS is reeling from medical expense, as is the US, and other nations. You will be doing a GREAT public service to use WTCQD as an opportunity to flood UK media with the medical research on Tai Chi & Qigong we provide freely at www.worldtaichiday.org 's Resource Center. [We are happy to fax you the Independent article on the NHS and alternative therapies, upon request].

SOME HAVE NOT LISTED AN EVENT UNDER THEIR SCHOOL LISTING -- Those who have listed schools, but NOT listed WTCQD events, "realize" that individuals and media that come to www.worldtaichiday.org will only be contacting groups that are actually "holding a World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day event," in fact they will use the search ONLY for events scheduled. So, if you do not list an event, you will not get much attention from seekers or media, and will be quite invisible really. REALIZE the size of the event doesn't matter we have groups of 6 to 12 people holding events in some areas, simply coming together at the park at 10 am on WTCQD to add their healing intent to the global wave of Tai Chi speading around the planet. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED by the massive events in some cities. Kansas City is where WTCQD all began, but other cities have continually surpassed our turn out, but we have FUN just the same!! :-) - We suggest that events be held in public squares where the public can see your event, but also where it is natural and comfortable for your participants, like downtown parks etc. (we understand weather can force you inside, that's o.k. too) - Secondly, we suggest that in picturesque cities with famous landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower, or Sydney's Opera House, or Central Park NYC, etc., you try to organize your events in front of those landmarks. - If you do this we encourage you to hire a professional photographer to shoot a few roles of film. - You want to stagger your participants out in formations to maximize the effect of the photo, with the landmark behind them. If done well ten people can look like 100, 100 can look like 1,000, and so on. - These photos can enable you to get newspaper and magazine articles published on your event and WTCQD worldwide, so that you can once again provide the media with the medical research being done on Tai Chi & Qigong, so they in turn can inform the millions worldwide who can benefit from it, but DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT. (Also, we may eventually do an official WTCQD calendar using those spectacular professional shots from the world events).

- Use the 4 Free Organizing Kits to maximize your media coverage. Even a small event can get great local coverage because you are linking yourself to a WORLD event held in hundreds of cities in dozens of countries. In the past we've gotten coverage from hundreds of media including CNN, Fox, Agence France Presse, Xinhua, The South China Morning Post, The New York Times, etc. etc. USE THE KITS, to help you get the media to pay attention to your event, and to the profoundly important medical research information you can provide the media on T'ai Chi & Qigong's medical benefits.

- THE MECHANICS OF EVENTS. PLEASE, again if you haven't already print out and use the 4 Free Organizing Kits we labored long and hard to create for you to help you have a more successful event, see www.worldtaichiday.org. - REALIZE that World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day's focus isn't just to have experienced T'ai Chi players "perform", but to engage the mass public in free workshops to teach EVERYONE a couple of Tai Chi moves so that EVERYONE can do a little Tai Chi or Qigong together, simply looping a simple form for a few minutes so ALL can play Tai Chi or Qigong on that day. - THEN you can break up and let the more experienced players go through their forms - Another idea is if you have several schools or organizations, ask each school's leader to lead the ENTIRE group in a short 2 or 3 minute Qigong movement, so that every teacher gets recognized by the whole group, before separating into different schools styles to play your entire forms. - Promote the FREE workshops to get many people there who have NEVER done T'ai Chi. This is what WTCQD has to offer, a way to EXPAND Tai Chi & Qigong through our community and world, for world health. - There can of course be presentations, performances of advanced styles as part of the celebration, but make INCLUSIVENESS and PARTICIPATION the key for the public, so all can play, learn, breathe, and get healthier. Most of these last suggestions are in the 4 Free Organizing Kits. Please print, from www.worldtaichiday.org.

2. Consciousness and First Principles

from: Marco Biagini
received: Jan 8, 2002

I would like to argue here that our psychic life is intrinsically transcendent with respect to material reality.

We know that our brain is made of particles such as electrons and protons, interacting through electromagnetic fields. Every biological process is due to chemical reactions, and in turn, every chemical reaction is due only to the electromagnetic interaction among valence electrons.

I am a physicist and I know very well what the electromagnetic field is; the equations of the electromagnetic field are universal and they describe the field within our brain as well as within a copper wire or an atom. These equations do not explain the existence of consciousness and of our capacity to feel. Materialists think that the electromagnetic field is the origin of our consciousness, but they cannot explain why the same fields do not make common electrical appliances demonstrate similar properties of consciousness. Thus, materialism is only a modern kind of idolatry: the idolater thinks that the object (idol), under certain circumstances, has a psychic life, regardless of the fact that it is made with ordinary material; the materialist thinks that the object (brain) has a psychic life under certain circumstances, regardless of the fact that it is made with ordinary material (electrons, electromagnetic fields, etc.)

We are now able to do first-principle calculations for complex molecular systems. The point is that we know what KIND of information we can find from a first-principle calculation for every possible molecular system. In fact from the solution of the Schroedinger equation for a molecular system we know that we can obtain information such as charge distributions or energy spectra. By no means can we obtain consciousness, emotions, feelings, etc. Even if we had a supercomputer with the capacity to find the wave function for our brain, we could only calculate the same physical properties.

The fact that drugs can alter consciousness and mental capacities simply proves that an interaction between brain and psyche exists. By no means can this be considered a proof that the brain is the origin of consciousness and emotions. If you have a problem with your eyes, your visual capacity would be altered, but this does not prove that it is your eye which experiences the visual sensation; this simply proves that your eye is involved in the process of generation of the visual sensation. In the same way the studies on drug effects only prove an interaction between psyche and brain exist. The existence of this interaction is obvious; in fact, without this interaction, our psyche would be completely isolated from the external reality. The chemical reactions and the electric impulses which occur in our brain are not emotions, feelings, awareness etc; it is our psyche which "translates" these ordinary physical processes into emotions, feelings, etc. Observe that the same mental alterations produced by drugs can be obtained through hypnosis; in the process of hypnosis there is no physical interaction between the hypnotist and the brain of the hypnotized, which proves that the process of hypnosis has not a physical origin, but a psychical origin.

Since our psychic life cannot be originated by objects such as electrons and electromagnetic fields, it means that our psyche (or mind, or spirit, or whatever you prefer) and our brain are two different interacting entities, and not the same entity. The psyche is the non-physical component of man.

When LSD or psilocybin enters the human brain, images that have a high degree of self similarity and recurrence seem to be formed. I was wondering firstly why this happens - is it to do with the structure of the brain, or a property of the chemical on the CNS, and secondly, what this has told us about the workings of the brain. Whilst time and space are distorted, these can be explained by the areas of the brain that are affected, but how is it that complex iterative shapes such as fractals are formed in the visual perception? Is it to do with feedback? If so, does this imply that vision is a filter that uses feedback to promote perception? How is this related to attention under the affects of these compounds, where focus on aspects of the shapes produces more details based on current perceptional images. How can we choose which part to focus on? Do we know how the brain selects regions to focus on/feedback? I am aware that hallucinogens effectively overload the neurons, is this what causes the feedback?